Summer Rush Chokes Tirumala, Pilgrims Wait 30 Hours

Tirupati: The summer holiday rush has pushed Tirumala into one of its busiest phases, with the waiting time crossing 30 hours on Thursday evening as thousands of pilgrims battled long queues for darshan of Lord Venkateswara.

The influx of pilgrims, which started to increase last week, reached its peak on Sunday and continued unabated on Thursday. Devotees were seen waiting in serpentine queues stretching up to 2-3 km in the scorching summer heat, with many standing for hours before entering the Vaikuntam Queue Complexes. Queues stretched beyond the outer ring road and pilgrims had to walk long distances to reach the complexes. Elderly devotees, women and parents carrying children faced great difficulties amidst the intense rush.

Traffic congestion has added to the difficulties faced by pilgrims in Tirumala. Devotees and motorists complained about poor traffic management, uncontrolled roadside parking, confusing one-way and no-entry regulations, lack of traffic personnel and absence of police in some busy areas.

The area between Saptagiri bus stand and the newly opened Venkatadri Nilayam witnessed serious traffic congestion throughout the day as intense pedestrian and vehicle movement continued simultaneously. Similar growls were also reported in Nandakam Circle, Rambhagicha Circle and Lepakshi bus stand area. Many internal roads remained clogged with devotees walking on roads alongside moving vehicles, revealing lapses in traffic regulations during rush hour.

Vaikuntam Queue Complexes I and II along with Narayanagiri and other holding points remained packed with devotees. Even though Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) arranged drinking water, annaprasadam and other basic amenities through Srivari Sevaks, the prolonged waiting period continued to test the patience of pilgrims. Accommodation facilities and other infrastructure in the temple town have also exceeded capacity.

TTD additional EO Ch. Venkaiah Chowdary, along with officials, inspected the crowd situation in the queuing complexes and waiting areas and monitored the arrangements for devotees. Due to heavy summer rush, TTD has canceled intermission darshans till July 15 for all except protocol VIPs.

Temple officials said 86,315 devotees took darshan on Wednesday. By 6 pm on Thursday evening, around 60,000 devotees had darshan, while more than 20,000 pilgrims were still waiting in the queue with all compartments fully occupied.